It’s gonna be a hot one this weekend, at least in central and eastern Canada, so perhaps doing something that has plenty of water, A/C and/or cold bevies nearby might be in the cards. Maybe?
This weekend, there’s some colour runs, cheap waterpark deals, lots of food and beer and some concerts that sound like a good time.
Check it out below and stay frosty this weekend!
Halifax
Clam Harbour Beach Sandcastle Competition
Date: Aug 14th
Time: 9am
Location: Clam Harbour Beach Provincial Park
If it’s gonna be hot this weekend, might as well make a beach day out of it. Though not in Halifax, a sandcastle competition sounds like a lot of fun. Bring a tent, a huge cooler of your favourite bevy and chill out watching the sand masters do their thing. It’s amazing what they can do with some wet sand and hairspray.
If that’s not what you’re looking to build for weekend plans, there’s a Harmonica Festival (I’m mildly curious), North by Night market and the Dartmouth Comic Arts Festival. Details can be found HERE!
Quebec City
Valcartier Village Waterpark
Date: Aug 10th-14th
Time: All Day
Location: Village Vacances Valcartier
This week, the waterpark at Valcartier is going all out. Normally, you’ve got one of the best waterparks in Canada, as well as the camping, treetop adventures and rafting, they’re also in the midst of building a resort hotel with a spa. To celebrate, they’ve brought in some midway rides for this week and they’re offering discounted tickets.
Hitting up some midway rides, then relaxing the weekend away on a lazy river is what I’m talking about!
There’s also the outdoor circus show, some bike races and the Grands Feux Loto Quebec Fireworks festival. You can find details on those HERE!
Montreal
Colour Run Montreal
Date: Aug 13th
Time: 8am
Location: Parc Jean Drapeau île Notre Dame
The Tropicolour World Tour is coming to Montreal this weekend. This colour run has a tropical theme to it, and you get to spend your day running a 5K, starting off clean, and getting colourful and dirty by the end of it, with a party to follow. Maybe you can find a friend, see if they want to save on water after the race.
Other events include Celine Dion this weekend (not last weekend as I said…) and that’s about it. Check it out for yourself HERE!
Ottawa
Diefenbunker Beer Tasting
Date: Aug 13th
Time: 7pm
Location: The Diefenbunker
A beer tasting in a cold war era fallout bunker? Count me in! How many people can say they’ve done that? There’ll be various local craft brewers in attendance, as well as food. Bring your love of Canadian Cold War history and an empty stomach and have a blast of a time… get it? Fallout shelter, cold war, blast… forget it.
Other events in Ottawa this weekend include the 2016 Oh Canada music festival and the Ottawa Fury FC play Jacksonville. Details are HERE, if you want ’em.
Toronto
YouTube FanFest
Date: Aug 13th
Time: 7pm
Location: Molson Amphitheatre
If you’re like everyone else, you watch YouTube videos constantly; for entertainment, to learn how to do something, or to just watch something to numb your brain. Since you’re such a huge YouTube fan, this might be up your alley.
Toronto’s hosting a YouTube FanFest, headlined by Lilly Singh, and featuring some amazing Canadian and international YouTubers. It’s going to be a live showcase of their talents and a chance to see them in real life. Might be fun, might skew to a younger demo, but hey, Lilly Singh is hilarious, it’s a free event and the concessions and bar will be open, so drink until you have fun, maybe?
Feast of St. Lawrence Festival
Date: Aug 12th-14th
Time: All Day
Location: St. Lawrence Market
The St. Lawrence Market BIA is launching a new festival to celebrate the world famous market. Each day has a separate event: Tonight is a special sit down dinner outside of the Market on Front St, with food coming from local chefs. On Saturday the vendors from the Market itself will be putting their food on display, taking over the street. Finally, on Sunday, it’s more kid-friendly programming with some puppet shows, face painting and food demos.
St. Lawrence Market is legit one of the best places to shop for fresh food and the vendors there know what they’re selling and do a damn good job at making this delicious. You should check it out.
If this isn’t where you want to be, there’s also a Vegan Food Festival at Fort York, Craft Beer Festival at Steamwhistle and some movies in the park. Check those out HERE!
Oh and the Tragically Hip are in town, but you already knew that.
Winnipeg
Interstellar Rodeo Winnipeg
Date: Aug 12th-14th
Time: All Day
Location: At the Forks
This artsy, airy music festival combines music with fine wines and foods. With bands such as Wilco, The Strumbellas, Serena Ryder and Neko Case, this show looks to be a pretty fucking awesome way to spend the weekend, if you’re looking to get classy drunk and have a sophisticated time. I’m a huge fan of Wilco, so that sells it for me, right there!
Other events in Winnipeg include Weird Al, the Manitoba Electronic Music Exhibition, and the Canadian National Water Ski Championships if you’re outdoorsy. Click HERE for the 411.
Regina
Weird Al Yankovic Mandatory World Tour
Date: Aug 14th
Time: 8pm
Location: Conexus Arts Centre
I know, odd suggestion, right? But hear me out. Weird Al has been the master of parody since the 80’s and even though his later stuff isn’t quite as awesome as it used to be, you can’t do better than ‘Fat,’ ‘Eat it,’ and ‘Amish Paradise.’ The way that he can turn a normal song into a hilarious parody is pretty cool. Wouldn’t mind catching this show, just for shits and giggles.
Other events in Regina include a Roughriders vs. Stampeders and the Saskatchewan Ukrainian Festival. You can click HERE for details.
Calgary
Taste of Calgary
Date: Aug 11th-14th
Time: 11am-9pm
Location: Eau Claire Market
If there’s a place in town you’re curious about, check out the Taste of Calgary. Anyone, who’s anyone in the culinary scene is there, with samples of their best stuff. Like most events like this, admission is free, but you need to buy tickets. Then you can sample all the food, snacks, drinks and desserts you want.
Can I come? I like food. And Beer.
Other events in Calgary are the Mardi Gras Street Festival, Tabestoon Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and a Spartan 5K. Check out those details HERE!
Edmonton
Canadian FLOW Championships
Date: Aug 11th-13th
Time: Various
Location: West Edmonton Mall
The first ever Canadian FLOW Championships are going down at the Tsunami within the West Edmonton Mall Waterpark. You can watch some of the best do their tricks on the flowboards, maybe learn a thing or two and get out there yourself in the amateur competition. Sounds like a way to beat the heat; you’re in a waterpark, in an air conditioned mall, with all the food you could ever need AND a kickass themed hotel. Pencil me in Edmonton, I’m coming.
Other events include the Eskimos vs. the Alouettes, the Edmonton Rock Music Festival, the Edmonton Latin Festival and the Miss Asia West Coast Pageant. Details are in the usual place, HERE!
Vancouver
Awolnation
Date: Aug 12th
Time: 8pm
Location: The Commodore Ballroom
Indie Electro rock band Awolnation is coming to town, and tickets are still available. To be honest, I only know their one song ‘Sail’ but they played it enough times that I can sing it from memory.. ah, good times… In any case, they put on a good show and their new album is pretty good. Check it out.
Other events include the Whitecaps playing San Jose in MLS, the Lions play the Ti-Cats in CFL and there’s whole bunch of local cultural and food festivals you might want to check out. Details are right HERE!
